2A
NEWS/The Charlotte Post
Thursday, May 8, 1997
Progressive
purpose for
our goal
MELODYE MICERE STEWART
For Comments or
questions, Please
call us at
704-376 0496
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POST
l\issle wasn’t one: Greene
In the
spirit of
Ma’at
“To make as our collective
work, the building and develop
ing of our community in order to
restore our people to their tradi
tional greatness.” Nia - purpose
- is the fifth principle of the
Nguzo Saba. Nia speaks directly
to the idea that African
Americans have a purpose that
is collective in nature and pro
gressive in its goal. Nia pointed
ly combines the first four princi
ples of Kwanzaa, (unity, self-
determination, collective work
and responsibility and coopera
tive economics), suggesting that
these values are needed to
accomplish the ultimate goal of
liberation for modern day
Afiicans in America.
For money-chasing African
Americans caught up in con
sumerism, materialism and sta
tus-seeking individualism, Nia
is an uncomfortable concept. In
fact, the Nguzo Saba as a foun
dation of racially-conscious val
ues requiring committed action
is an unsettling concept to many
blacks who think they have
made it. Yet, the illusion of
acceptance is shattered every
time a person of Afiican descent
achieves excellence, e.g.. Fuzzy
ZoelleFs derogatory comments
about Tiger Woods. Despite
Rodney King’s plea, we are not
only far from being able to “all
get along,” we are also far from
the concept of respect.
In many ways, a significant
portion of our historical sojourn
has been the quest for respect.
Respect as human beings of
African descent, divinely creat
ed, rvith talents, gifts, intellect,
creativity, spirituality and
resourcefulness. Black people
are the only ethnic group in
America to generate over $400
billion in income and receive $2
worth of respect. While there are
individuals who command
respect, the whole of our race
does not. Perhaps part of the
reason is because we do not
respect ourselves - our history,
culture and collective experi
ences.
Nia, purpose, instructs Afiican
Americans to collectively work
toward our “traditional great
ness.” Our traditional greatness
begins in Africa, at the begin
ning of time, as the first people
to live on earth, placed on the
richest continent on earth. It
continues with the development
of agriculture, animal domesti
cation and formulations of math
ematics, science and medicine.
Our traditional greatness is
accentuated by the building of
the great pyramids, the great
stone walls of Zimbabwe and the
creation of spiritual values,
embodied by Ma’at.
In 1997, why should African
Americans have a racial expec
tation of assistance from other
Afncan Americans? Simply, it is
the way of our Ancestors. It is
the way of Imhotep, Hatshepsut
and Hannibal. It is the way of
Douglass, Turner, Tubman and
Truth. It is the way of Woodson,
DuBois, Wells and Bethune. It is
the way of Martin and Malcolm,
When we cultivate self-respect
and self-love, we will practice
Nia, just like our ancestors.
Continued from page 1A
Watson in any manner,” Creft
said. “There was a touching.
The intent of the touching was
not to inflict harm or threaten
Mr. Watson in any way.”
The incident proved fertile
for satire. WPEG radio aired a
tongue-in-cheek account of the
confrontation Wednesday,
complete with bleeped-out epi
thets, screams and crashing
furniture.
The McDonald’s Cafeteria
situation, which led to the
incident, has lagged for
months as Greene and others
have worked to prevent the
restaurant and the adjacent
hotel from closing. Founder
John McDonald died two
years ago and his wife has
operated the complex since.
A deal has apparently been
reached involving mortgage
holder NationsBank and the
city to transfer property to
another owner. Watson had
proposed a competing plan
which was apparently not
accepted. Tuesday’s confronta
tion left many fearing the
entire effort could be harmed
and that McDonald’s
Cafeteria would be foreclosed
on later this month.
Watson’s account of the inci
dent appeared on page lA in
Wednesday’s Charlotte
Observer. Greene gave his
version during Wednesday’s
press conference, acknowledg
ing there was a confrontation
with Watson and words were
exchanged, “but not to the
degree reported in the paper,”
he said.
“He called me a liar, refer
ring to the fact that there
were lies being told (about the
McDonald’s deal),” Greene
said. “He said he was going to
make it his personal responsi
bility to clear up the lies. At
that point I asked if he was
calling me a liar and he said
he was.”
Greene said he reached
across a row of chairs and
grabbed Watson, at which
time he was grabbed by mem
bers of the audience. Watson
then left the meeting.
“I regret that I was provoked
to touch him and I apologize
to the community that has
elected me and entrusted me
with so much,” Greene said. “I
don’t understand why Mr.
Watson is doing what he is
doing.”
“I have not talked to Watson
since,” Greene said. “I am try
ing to find a solution to this
thing. I don’t take kindly to
people calling me a liar, espe
cially when he knows better.”
“I don’t understand this at
all. I don’t mean to play the
hurt victim, but I don’t under
stand this at all. There has to
be something else going on
here.”
Seniors get valuable degrees
Continued from page 1A
than just a sense of accomplish
ment. I know that I worked
hard for it. But I just don’t know
what to do. I have anxieties. I
don’t know where to begin any
thing - looking for a job or
whatever.”
Watkins, 31, commuted to
Barber-Scotia’s Concord campus
each day from Gastonia, leaving
behind a 2-year-old son who was
bom after her sophomore year.
“I finished in four years,” she
says. “I missed a semester after
my son was born', but I was
ahead so I didn’t lose any time.”
She also didn’t lose any steam.
Watkins will graduate
Summa Cum Laude and with a
3.98 GPA that will probably
make her class valedictorian.
But that’s not the most impor
tant thing, she says.
‘Tm really thinking about my
son,” Watkins says. “As a single
parent I had to make life better
for him.”
“I took the roundabout way,”
says Johnson C. Smith
University senior Alpha Arnett,
35. “I had my fim. Then I real
ized it was time to settle down.”
Arnett began college in 1979
at Howard University. After
almost 20 years, Arnett will
finally get his degree. A busi
ness management major, he has
a 3.72 average.
“That’s almost twice what I
had at Howard,” he says with a
laugh.
Arnett said he and Howard
“parted company” because he
wasn’t reaUy into school.
‘We weren’t real secure finan
cially,” he says. “And I certainly
was not the best student out
there. I really had no idea what
it meant to have a degree. I was
just into having fim.”
Arnett, who along the way
became an ordained Baptist
minister, said he, like Watkins,
wanted to return to school. It
was just a matter of conve
nience and confidence.
“I had talked about it for
years,” Arnett said. “But I just
had a lot of fears and dida’t
have the faith to do it.”
Arnett says accepting the caU
to the ministry meant getting a
bachelor degree.
“I knew it was my desire to go
on and get a master’s of divini
ty,” Arnett says. “To do that I
needed to go back to school.
Undergrad was a step in that
direction.”
Arnett, who married in 1994,
says his wife, Maudisa, encour
aged him.
“She worked real hard,”
Arnett said. “She was incredibly
understanding and supportive.”
Like Arnett, Saulsberry cred
its her spouse for her success.
When she and husband Shawn
Saulsberry first married, he
would drop her off at school
each day and pick her up.
“I finally got a car,” Saulsberry
said. “He really helped me. He
made a lot of sacrifices to help
me keep my GPA”
“Being an older student gives
you a real appreciation for
value,” Arnett says. ‘You realize
that it’s your money you could
be wasting.”
After graduation, Arnett will
take some time off from school
to decided what to do next.
“It’s over now,” he added.
“Time to move on.”
N.C. drops in child care
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Children aren’t faring very
well in North Carolina.
The Tar Heel State r^mked
42nd among 50 states in
child well-heing, according to
Kids Count Data Book, an
analysis produced by the
Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The findings, released
Monday, are based on key
indicators in health, safety,
educational and economic
security.
Although North Carolina
slipped from 39th in 1996,
the state was credited with
making significant strides in
math and reading achieve
ment. The high school
dropout rate has declined
from 13 percent in 1985 to
11 percent in 1994. Those
strides, in addition to an
emphasis on early childhood
development should improve
life prospects for young peo
ple, the study said.
“In recent years. North
Carolina has demonstrated
the political will to imple
ment innovative programs
and focus on front end solu
tions to the problems chil
dren and families face,” said
Julie Rehder, program man
ager for the N.C. Kids Count
Project/N.C. Child Advocacy
Institute. “For example, in
parts of the state programs
such as Smart Start,
Communities in Schools,
See N.C. on page 6A
Perceni low
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occideoi homicide, and luicide
DumniiooiwHiiiftmiiin
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uinnritic«occToinniciii9i’ |J
Peicenlol ieen$ who oie
high school diopouls
Perceni ol leers not ottendirg
school ond not working
Peiceni ol childien in poveity
Peiceniol lomiiieswiihchildien
headed by a single parent
They came before Columbus
PHOTO/PAUL WILLIAMS HI
Author and lecturer Ivan Van Sertima was at Charlotte’s Afro-American Cultural Center recently
to talk about the state of race relations in America and defend his book “They Came Before
Columbus,” which has been criticized by some academics.
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Notice Of Meeting
Notice is hereby given that a special meeting of the
members of The Long & Son Mutual Burial
Association, Inc., will be held at Long & Son Mortuary
Service, 2312 Ileatties Ford Rd, Charlotte, North
Carolina on the 21st Day of May 1997, at the hour of
11:00 AM, for the purpose of submitting to the vote of
members, the question of dissolution of said burial
association and the purchase of life insurance
contracts on the lives of members.
The foregoing notice is given in pursuance of
recommendations by the Long & Son Mutual Burial
Association Board of Directors.
Lem Long, Jr.
Secretary-Treasurer
Greetings from
Dr. Jerry A. Jones
y^harlotte you are a wonderful and
Cd caring community and we love you.
We are still serving you at our new
location.
741 Kenilworth
Avenue, Suite 100
Our new phone
number is
(704)332-2272
Give us a call
■7rt'U:H4!-li|>r-TTn!ILUI!l
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